The Cottage Ghosts

by Jade Newell
(Nova Scotia, Canada)

Hi, I'm Jenna, and I'm here to tell you the story of what happened to me and my boyfriend on that faithful day that we went to his family's cottage.

It was a regular day and to most people, it wouldn't have been special. But it was to me and my boyfriend, Chris. That day signified that we had gone out for a whole year. Chris had told me the night before that he had a special surprise for me to celebrate our one year anniversary. I was excited and tried to get him to tell me what it was.

"You'll find out tomorrow morning," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Aaaw, c'mon Chris, tell me now!"

"Nope, you'll see tomorrow. Just be ready at eight when I come to pick you up,"

"Fine," I said, laughing now. "I can't wait."

He laughed, and said, "Well, I better let you get to sleep, we have a big day tomorrow. Good night."

"Night," I replied. "I love you."

"Love you too."

We hung up, and I got ready for bed. I was awake half the night wondering what Chris' big surprise was. But finally, I fell asleep.

My alarm clock went off 6:30 that next morning. I yawned, and rolled over to press the snooze button as I did every morning. Until I remembered what day it was: our one year anniversary. I jumped up and headed to the bathroom.

"Mom, hurry up!" I called at the door.

Soon the door opened, and I darted inside. I showered faster then I ever had before, and got ready. Then I grabbed my big purse, and threw a change of clothes and my bathing suit inside, since Chris had told me I'd need them.

It seemed like 8:00 would never come. I waited, and waited, and finally I heard the telltale noise of his 20 year old car coming up the driveway. Soon there was a knock on the door. And Chris stood there, smiling. He kissed me, and said, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said, and followed him out to his car.

We drove for about an hour, and Chris stubbornly refused to tell me where we were going. Soon however, we came to a dirt road that lead into a forest. On the other side of the trees, you could see the water of a sparkling blue lake. We drove down this road for about ten minutes, and then stopped in front of a little cottage. There were other cottages surrounding it, and there was a direct path down to the beach and lake beyond. The view was beautiful.

I couldn't say anything. It was too amazing. He had brought me to a cottage to spend the night.

He grinned. "Well, what do you think? I borrowed it from Mom and Dad for the weekend. They just bought it, and haven't came down yet, and I asked for it and they said yes. How's this for an anniversary?"

"It's...it's beautiful," I said looking at him, and throwing my arms around his neck. He kissed me, and we headed in.

Ten minutes later we were on the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the water in the lake was warm. We splashed around and laughed like kids for a couple hours, and then headed up onto the beach to sit in the sun.

As we were doing that, a man with two kids came down onto the beach. He saw us, smiled and headed over.

"I thought I saw someone pull in next door this morning," he said. "It's good to see people there again, after the Joneses." He looked sad. "They were good people. They didn't deserve what happened to them."

Chris looked confused. "What happened to the Joneses?" he asked the man.

"Well, I don't wanna scare you away, but I'm not gonna lie to you. No one really knows what happened to them. There were four of them, Jack and Janet Jones, and their two children, Jamie and Jackie. The kids used to come over to my cottage every day to play with my kids. But that day they didn't come over, I knew something was up. Those kids always came over, mark my words. So, I decided to investigate. The car was in the driveway, so I knew they were still here. I banged on the door, but there was no answer. That was weird, so I tried the doorknob. Strangely enough, it was unlocked. That surprised me. The Joneses ALWAYS locked their door, even though there was no one around. So I walked in.

That's where I found all four of them, laying in their beds, looks of terror upon their faces. They were cold, and you could tell they'd been dead for a while. I...I just don't know how they died... It was like they were scared to death by someone...or Something."

The man walked away, and I looked at Chris, and he laughed. I was surprised.

"You don't believe that, do you?"

"Well," I said, "It could be true."

He laughed again. Jenna, you watch too much T.V."

I tried to put it out of my mind as we spent the rest of the day on the beach. But when we went back to the cottage for supper and to go to bed, I was scared. Before we turned in, I double checked that the doors and windows were locked, and then made Chris do the same. He laughed, and told me I was crazy, but I didn't care. We headed to bed, and I heard a crash from the other side of the room. I looked at Chris.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," he said, getting up to look. He gasped as he realized that the window was shattered. But what scared me was the fact that none of the glass was in the cottage. It was like it had been broken from the inside. But that was impossible.

We kept hearing strange noises until about three in the morning. But the second that I closed my eyes, I saw the most horrific thing I have ever seen. It was so foul that I will not describe it, because the description will kill you. I let out a scream at the same time that Chris did.

As I opened my eyes, I started to say "Did you see---"

I stopped mid-sentence, because to my horror, the thing I had seen was still there, even when I had my eyes open. As I looked at it, it grew more and more terrifying, and it said, "Don't tell me, you're gonna die?" Then it cackled evilly, and let out a roar!

Chris and I both screamed at the same time. Then I blacked out.

When I came to, I felt strange, and I heard voices.

"I warned them," the man from next door said, looking over our....BODIES?!?!

Wait a minute, how could I be here, and there at the same time? I looked around me, and saw Chris too. He looked at me and said:

"I'm sorry, I should have listened to you and got out of here when we had the chance. That guy warned us, and we didn't listen, and now..."

He trailed off, and looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry, Jenna, we're dead."

I gasped. I didn't think it was possible. That is, until I flew through the wall.

*****

Since that day Chris and I have lived in that cabin, with our new friends, the Joneses. We have decided that we are going to try to make that cabin safe for the next owners, somehow... I mean, there's 6 of us, and only one of him, right?

*****

Well, that's the story of the cabin. I figured I should tell it, because, who better to tell it, then a GHOST?